29 June 2015

THE POWER OF JOURNALLING

I mentioned in a recent YouTube video that I had been inspired to pick up a journal again thanks to the lovely Gemma from Little Tiny Pieces. I have many a half-full notebook from my younger years, spilling out my worldly worries and thoughts but, as I have gotten older, and life has become a lot less eventful (thank God!), I guess I haven't really written much journal wise. The most I may have done, over the last ten years, is to take a sheet of paper and kind of just start to write about, well, anything on my mind really. Generally, this piece of paper would have got neatly folded and squirreled away somewhere, only to be discovered and ripped up a year or so later.

To be honest, I really regret throwing my writing away. I think that, when I read old journal entries, I am mostly embarrassed, but I still wish I had everything I had written. It is a lovely insight into how far you have grown and how much strength you have gained I guess.

When Gemma and I discussed journaling as a way to help settle my mind before bed and write all my thoughts down, I knew exactly what I wanted to record down on paper, so off I trotted to the shop to find a notebook that looked 'right'...they have to be right to write you know?

So now I have a new bedtime ritual. I put my phone on charge and try my best not to look at it again. Then, I pick up my notebook and I record the following things about my day...

:: Things I am grateful for today

As loyal readers of this very blog will know, my regular Friday post is all about gratitude. During the week I always think 'ooh, that should definitely be on my list this week', then by Friday I cannot remember what it was that made me stand still, smile and be grateful. This isn't because I am totally self-absorbed, I can assure you of that, but my forgetfulness is usually down to tiredness and a severe case of 'end of the week hysteria'...you must have heard of that, surely?! Now though, with my daily gratitude lists I have zero excuse. I'm actually quite surprised at the amount of things I list day to day, even on days I have felt pretty low...there is always something or someone to write about.

:: Things I am thinking about

Whilst this specific section of the daily journal isn't always positive it really helps get things out of my head and onto paper. I don't tend to go into lots of details but just bullet point the main things that are either worrying me or are just on my mind. This could be anything from work concerns to priorities on my 'to-do' list that I really don't want to forget.

:: Something that made me smile today
Hopefully there is more that one thing to be listed here, but I try to remember the moment that caused the biggest grin and jot it down in this section. It is a nice thing to end on I think.

So, there you have it. That is what I do right before sleep hits. If you are not journaling I can highly recommend it. If listing something isn't for you, and you prefer to write stream of consciousness thoughts then just go for it. It is really cleansing for your mind and I honestly look forward to doing it every evening.

If you already journal then let me know what it is you write about. Do you have a regular list of things, like mine, or do you do something totally different? Let me know!

I struggled to switch off too but having this routine really does help. That and some lavender pillow spray! Like everything, it can take some time to adjust to a new routine but I just needed to not be staring at my effing phone all the time. Hope you are well lovely lady :-)